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PubMed1985

Impact of breast self-examination planned educational messages on social network communications: an exploratory study.

This two-part study examined the effect of college women's participation in a breast self-examination (BSE) educational program on discussion of BSE with specific members of their social network. In addition, the characteristics of college women who did report discussion with others were investigated as was the relationship between this discussion and the participants' mothers' breast cancer screening behaviors. Results suggest that a BSE education intervention which includes explicit messages to encourage discussion with social network members is effective in increasing communication with mothers, sisters and friends. College women who discussed BSE with their mothers were more likely to have mothers who have a high quality BSE practice and who state an intention to request a clinical breast examination at their next physician visit. The limitations of this study are discussed with recommendations for future research.

Adult↗
PubMed2007

Involvement or isolation? The social networks of children with autism in regular classrooms.

Including children with autism in regular classrooms has become prevalent; yet some evidence suggests such placements could increase the risk of isolation and rejection. In this study, we used social network methods to explore the involvement of children with autism in typical classrooms. Participants were 398 children (196 boys) in regular 2nd through 5th grade classes, including 17 children (14 boys) with high functioning autism or Asperger's syndrome. Children reported on friendship qualities, peer acceptance, loneliness, and classroom social networks. Despite involvement in networks, children with autism experienced lower centrality, acceptance, companionship, and reciprocity; yet they did not report greater loneliness. Future research is needed to help children with autism move from the periphery to more effective engagement with peers.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1998

Using social network and ethnographic tools to evaluate syphilis transmission.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Partner notification has been the cornerstone for the prevention and control of syphilis in the United States. This technique may not make full use of contextual data that an ethnographic and social network approach can offer. GOALS OF THE STUDY: The occasion of a syphilis outbreak among young people was used to investigate the applicability of a social network approach and to test the validity of several traditional approaches to syphilis epidemiology. STUDY DESIGN: An outbreak of syphilis was investigated by interviewing both infected and noninfected people, by directing resources based on network association, by creating and evaluating network diagrams as an aid to the epidemiologic process, and by including ethnographic observations as part of outbreak management. RESULTS: Diagrammatic display of network growth provided a useful alternative to the traditional epidemic curve. Case prevention was demonstrated by identifying uninfected people with multiple concurrent exposures. Concurrent, overlapping exposure in infected people rendered traditional "source" and "spread" criteria moot. CONCLUSIONS: The current discussions of partner notification may be informed by recognizing that it is a subset of a broader and potentially more powerful approach. This approach calls some basic tenets of syphilis epidemiology into question.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

The TAPS project 32: social networks of two group homes ... 5 years on. Team for the Assessment of Psychiatric Services.

Long-stay psychiatric patients discharged to two group homes from Friern Hospital were studied 1 year and 5 years after discharge. A much greater cohesiveness of social relationships was noted in the smaller home at both time points, whereas in the larger home residents had failed to develop friendships and intimacy within their social group. A number of hypotheses were explored to explain this difference. None of the factors investigated provided an explanation, including the mental state of the patients prior to discharge, their problems of social behaviour, the size of the group homes, whether they were staffed or unstaffed, and the patients' age. However, the development of friendships and intimacy over a 5-year period was strongly determined by the quality of the patients' social networks while in hospital. Consequently, when selecting groups of patients to share homes in the community, it is deemed advisable to form groups that fully reflect the range and diversity of their social networks.

Age Distribution↗
PubMed1982

Attitudes toward health in social networks: their influence on physician utilization.

Many variables contribute to medical consumption. This study concentrates on those that can relate to health education, namely, (1) attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral intentions concerning health and medical care and (2) the influence of the patient's social network on medical consumption. Both complexes appear to influence the number of physician visits by three selected groups of patients. Emotional components are more influential than cognitive ones. Support from the social network appears to reinforce rather than replace professional help. The question is how health educators can adjust strategies to these findings.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1995

The social network of patients with schizoaffective disorder as compared to healthy individuals.

The social network was evaluated by means of the self-rating scale 'Interview Schedule for Social Interaction' (ISSI) and semi-structured interviews in married patients with a DSM-III diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder (N = 17, partners, N = 16), married patients with diabetes (N = 10, partners, N = 10) and in married healthy individuals (N = 8, partners, N = 8). The two latter groups were comparison control groups matched for sex and age to the patients with a schizoaffective disorder. The scores on the ISSI and its subscales for the groups were compatible to those found in other Swedish studies. Patients with a schizoaffective disorder both experienced that they had less access to (AVAT) and were less satisfied with their deep emotional relations (ADAT). The same patients had a higher level of neuroticism as compared to the rest. The patients with a schizoaffective disorder had less often than the patients with diabetes been informed about their disease. Moreover, the partners to the patients with a schizoaffective disorder had not been informed about the disease and experienced that they had fewer social contacts (AVSI). A challenge for the professional network in psychiatry is to improve the information and education to families in which one member is struck by a schizoaffective disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

[Relationship between regular exercise and life style, social network, education and subjective symptoms in Japanese middle aged and elderly residents].

OBJECT AND METHODS: A community-based survey of 12,630 residents of Gunma Prefecture aged 40 to 69 years was conducted to investigate the relationship between the habit of regular exercise and life style, social network, and subjective physical and mental symptoms in particular. The subjective physical and mental symptoms were measured using the Todai Health Index (THI). The response rate was 91.6%. A total of 6,736 responses were analyzed after excluding respondents with chronic diseases from the analysis. On the question about the habit of regular exercise ("Do you exercise regularly?"), the responses were divided into three categories: 1. Often, 2. Sometimes, 3. Hardly ever or Never. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results are summarized as follows: 1. The proportions of residents who exercise "often" were 14.2% and 11.1% for males and females, respectively, while those of "hardly ever or never" were 52.3% and 59.4% for males and females, respectively. More males than females had the habit of regular exercise. Respondents were divided into three age categories: 40-49, 50-59 and 60-69 years. Among the female respondents, it was shown that the older the age category the greater the habit of regular exercise. 2. Both male and female respondents who had regular exercise habits scored significantly lower on the THI scales for vague complaints, depression, and irregularity of life, while they scored higher on the aggression and lie (social desirability) scales. 3. Both male and female respondents who had regular exercise habits also tended to have be better perceived health and social networking, i.e. having close friends, having a hobby and involvement in community social activities, as well as taking care of pets. This group also had a higher average education level and less of a smoking habit. This study suggests that regular exercise habit correlates not only with physical health and fitness levels but with mental health status as well.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Health behaviors, social networks, and healthy aging: cross-sectional evidence from the Nurses' Health Study.

Physical function is a significant component of health-related quality of life among older adults. Potential correlates of healthy aging, including health behaviors and social network characteristics, were examined among 56,436 US women aged 55-72 in 1992. Healthy aging was assessed by maintenance of physical function measured by four subscales of the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF)-36 Health Survey: physical functioning; role limitations; freedom from bodily pain; and vitality. Individual health behaviors, defined as current smoking, alcohol consumption, sedentary behavior, and being overweight each contributed to significant decrements in functioning across all age-groups. After controlling for these health behaviors and other confounders (age, race, education, and co-morbid conditions), elements of a woman's social network were significantly correlated with functional status. Strong predictors of high functioning among older women were having close friends and relatives and presence of a confidant. For example, the absence of a confidant was associated with a 4.44 point reduction in physical functioning (95% CI: -7.0, -1.9), and a 5.68 point reduction in vitality (95% CI: -7.9, -3.4). These effects were comparable in magnitude to those observed among heavy smokers, or women in the highest category of body mass index.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

Factors affecting support after criminal victimization: needed and received support from the partner, the social network, and distant support providers.

Needed and received support among victims of crime in the Netherlands was examined. Support was measured 2 weeks, 1 month, and 2 months after the crime incidents. Respondents answered questions about 3 groups of support providers: their partners, their social networks, and their distant support providers. Results indicated that partners were the most important support suppliers. Respondents who indicated that their partners' support had been insufficient suffered a deterioration of their well-being. Victims received sufficient support from their social networks. Receiving less support than needed was associated with low well-being, both before and after the crime. Victims indicated they needed the least support from distant support providers and that the little support required from them had not been received.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1993

The Save our Sisters Project. A social network strategy for reaching rural black women.

Why are older black women screened less for breast cancer? What can be done to narrow the racial gap in mammography screening? These are the questions addressed by the Save Our Sisters (SOS) Project, a pilot demonstration study funded by the National Cancer Institute in a rural county of North Carolina. The target population is 2600 black women 50-74 years of age residing in the county. To assist these women to obtain annual mammograms, SOS has recruited and trained 64 black women who are "natural helpers" to serve as lay health advisors. The lay health advisors reach older black women through their existing kin, friendship, and job networks. Responses from 14 focus group interviews found that when it is a matter of older black women's health concerns, women turn to certain women for social support. Responses revealed factors related to the individual woman and her social network that influence rural black women's seeking breast cancer screening. These results were applied to the Social Change model for designing the training and three network intervention strategies: (1) providing social support (information and referrals, emotional caring, and tangible assistance) through interpersonal counseling with women in their social networks; (2) working as a group, planning and implementing breast cancer control and prevention activities through community-based organizations to which advisors belong (e.g., church groups, civic groups, and social groups); and (3) establishing themselves as a non-profit, community-based SOS Association to sustain project interventions after the funding period. The SOS Community Advisory Group and the advisors developed innovative methods of recruitment, implementation, and follow-up. The community programs they have initiated are: (1) the Adopt-A-Sister Program, which assists black women who cannot afford the cost of a mammogram; (2) a committee on understanding the health care system, which assists women in negotiating regulations and using health care providers; (3) a training committee, which recruits and trains additional advisors; (4) a support group for black women with diagnoses of breast cancer; and (5) a speakers bureau, which has produced a 10-minute video, brochure, and tee-shirts as community education materials.

Black or African American↗
PubMed1979

Rehabilitation of the disabled: the role of social networks in the recovery process.

This study examines the role of formal and informal intervention systems utilized by the chronically disabled in the process of rehabilitation and recovery. In addition to formal community resources (agents and agencies), the disabled tend to rely on informal social networks (family and peers) as sources of support in the recovery process. The findings presented in this paper focus on the extent to which formal interventions and informal resources are supportive for the disabled and the effect of these support systems on outcome. The analysis is based on empirical data derived from a survey of 950 chronically disabled adults interviewed in a metropolitan community in the U.S.A. Among other findings, the evidence suggests that informal social networks play an important role in the rehabilitation of the disabled. Reliance on informal resources is enhanced in the absence of formal rehabilitation intervention, suggesting alternative modes of social support are actively sought and utilized by the disabled. Furthermore, lay-initiative may constitute another effective resource in the process of recovery. These findings suggest that informal resources are effectively utilized by the disabled, but are not usually identified as part of the formal intervention system in the community.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Social network diagram.

A diagram that shows at a glance the social network and support of patients was found useful in a follow-up study of patients with strokes. We believe that the diagram would prove valuable in medical case records and should be an essential part of medical-social reports, particularly for patients at risk of losing their independence.

Aged↗
PubMed1985

The impact of social stressors and social networks on pediatric medical care use.

Substantial differences in the use of pediatric medical resources reinforce the need for identifying and understanding factors that influence the use of medical services for children. This research assesses the simultaneous impact of sociodemographic characteristics, health attitudes and beliefs, psychologic distress, social stressors, and social networks on the use of pediatric acute care services during a 12-month period. Using a prospective longitudinal study design, data were obtained on 513 children and their families enrolled in a prepaid group practice. Linear modeling results showed that health attitudes and social networks were important predictors of acute care utilization in addition to child's age, birth order, baseline health status, and ethnic group. The authors were able to show significant effects for network size, dispersion, and tendency to use one's network members. Individuals with large nondispersed networks are more likely to use pediatric health services, apparently due to the transmission of the networks' pro-medical care health beliefs. Also the tendency to call on network members modifies an individual's propensity to seek care for minor pediatric medical problems and can make a difference by as much as 1.6 visits per year per child for acute care episodes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Social networks: we get by with (and in spite of) a little help from our friends.

Studies of social support networks have almost exclusively measured only their positive aspects. In this research, we investigated both the helpful or positive and the upsetting or negative aspects of social networks in a longitudinal study of spouses caring for a husband or wife with Alzheimer's disease, a progressive senile dementia. Measures of helpful and upsetting aspects of the care givers' networks, derived from interviews and daily interaction ratings, were studied for their relations with overall network satisfaction and depression at an initial interview period (n = 68) and at a follow-up period about 10 months later (n = 38). Results from hierarchical multiple regression analyses, in which care givers' age and sex and a measure of the spouses' health status were controlled, showed that the care givers' degree of upset with their networks was strongly associated with lower network satisfaction and increased depression at both time periods. Helpful aspects bore little or no direct relation to either depression or network satisfaction. Helpful aspects of the network did, however, interact with network upset in predicting network satisfaction, and depression (combined probabilities test, p less than .05). Longitudinal predictions of follow-up depression, after age, sex, care givers' health status, and initial depression levels were controlled, showed that changes in upsetting aspects of one's network were predictive of changes in depression over time. We interpreted these results within an attributional framework that emphasizes the salience of upsetting events within a social network.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The role of social networks and media receptivity in predicting age of smoking initiation: a proportional hazards model of risk and protective factors.

The increasing prevalence of adolescent smoking demonstrates the need to identify factors associated with early smoking initiation. Previous studies have shown that smoking by social network members and receptivity to pro-tobacco marketing are associated with smoking among adolescents. It is not clear, however, whether these variables also are associated with the age of smoking initiation. Using data from 10,030 California adolescents, this study identified significant correlates of age of smoking initiation using bivariate methods and a multivariate proportional hazards model. Age of smoking initiation was earlier among those adolescents whose friends, siblings, or parents were smokers, and among those adolescents who had a favorite tobacco advertisement, had received tobacco promotional items, or would be willing to use tobacco promotional items. Results suggest that the smoking behavior of social network members and pro-tobacco media influences are important determinants of age of smoking initiation. Because early smoking initiation is associated with higher levels of addiction in adulthood, tobacco control programs should attempt to counter these influences.

Acculturation↗
PubMed2002

Social networks and forecasting the spread of HIV infection.

This study is an initial effort to use network data to forecast the spread of HIV in a large U.S. city. Data were collected from a sample of drug users and sociodemographically matched nonusers in low-income areas of Houston, Texas. Two sample-based HIV prevalence models and two sociological models were combined with three published biological models to yield forecasts of the growth of HIV seroprevalence. The forecasts predict a compounded annual growth in HIV of between 2.4% and 16.5% among low-income residents of Houston's inner city. These results suggest that forecasts are most sensitive to the nature of the sociological model used. A random mixing model showed about a threefold overestimate of 20-year projected seroprevalence compared with the empiric network data. Thus, the collection of additional social network data is probably the most important requirement for more accurate projections.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

[Change in social networks due to psychoses].

The paper presents the network concept and filters research results according to practical relevance. By way of introduction, the concept of the social network SNW is briefly outlined in terms of its origins and significance. The "socially intact" network of 25 - 40 individuals, of which 15 - 20 % are very close and familiar, is compared with that of people suffering from schizophrenia, averaging 13 individuals. The changes are compiled according to the individuals involved, the type of relationship, and the type of perception. Outcome-relevant results of the network research are summarised on a general basis and according to the parameters social support, social and family contacts, distribution by sex, symptoms, and relatives. The changes in the network in the course of the disease and their importance are described separately according to the phases premorbid phase, prodromal phase, early psychosis, untreated psychosis, first phase of treatment, and long-term phase, illustrating their importance in the context of the overall pathological process. Possibilities of intervention in the SNW are outlined for the phases premorbid, prodromal, onset of the first episode, chronicity development, and existing chronicity. The conclusion rounds off with a brief enumeration of the often lacking intervention options in the German-speaking world.

Family Relations↗
PubMed2002

Modeling diffusion of innovations in a social network.

A simple model of diffusion of innovations in a social network with upgrading costs is introduced. Agents are characterized by a single real variable, their technological level. According to local information, agents decide whether to upgrade their level or not, balancing their possible benefit with the upgrading cost. A critical point where technological avalanches display a power-law behavior is also found. This critical point is characterized by a macroscopic observable that turns out to optimize technological growth in the stationary state. Analytical results supporting our findings are found for the globally coupled case.

Journal Article↗